Albert Solomon Candidate Statement

 Edict on the statement of Mr. Albert Solomon
by National Elections Supervisor Casey Peters

The Candidate Packet issued to all persons who expressed an interest in running for any of the five Local Station Boards contained a checklist of nomination requirements and copies of Fair Campaign Provisions with guidelines on candidate statements. The checklist reads, in part: “In drafting your statement, you may begin with your name, include your experience, skills, and the main theme you want to emphasize in your opening paragraph, as this is all many voters may read.”
Pacifica Bylaws Article Four Section 2-B sets forth required documents that the nominee for Local Station Board shall submit. Point (3) requires: “a written statement of up to 500 words in length by the candidate introducing himself/herself and his/her interest in, or qualifications for, servings as a Delegate, which statement shall be distributed, or otherwise made available, to the Members entitled to vote along with the written ballot”.
When candidates submit statements which may be considered inappropriate, we need to look for compliance with the Bylaws.
Pacifica Election Supervisors are not an investigatory body, nor a court of law. We do not have the time and energy, the expertise, nor the legal authority to hold hearings and weigh evidence.
However, in the case of Albert Solomon, whose racially-charged entry has been deemed offensive by Pacifica activists nationwide, not only the spirit but the letter of the Bylaws was violated, in that his statement contained no information "introducing himself/herself and his/her interest in, or qualifications for, serving as a Delegate."
A precedent was set for such circumstances in 2003 at KPFK when Chris Condon and John Wenger were disqualified as candidates for not having submitted valid candidate statements in a timely manner. Therefore, Mr. Solomon has not qualified as a candidate for the WBAI Local Station Board.